September 1966

September of 1966, the Air Force decided that I could join them, which made absolute sense. By that time I had lost one friend in the Marine Corps who was killed in Vietnam, and two Army buddies came home pretty shot up. The Air Force seemed like a better bet, so my dad dropped me off at the train station in my hometown of Wausau, Wisc., for transport to the Induction Center in Milwaukee.

The Induction Center was a huge shock to me and hundreds of other guys filtering through there as Vietnam was ramping up. The biggest shock was when they had all the enlisted stand in one line and all draftees in another. That's when it became really interesting, as they went down every man indicating Army or Marines. Guys could not believe they were drafted into the Marines. For the first time in the history of the Marine Corps, they drafted at the induction centers. I was there when it happened in September of 1966.

After physicals we were all gathered into various rooms for whatever branch we had enlisted in. Then, after much protest from the Air Force recruiters, they were ordered to allow the Marine recruiter into the room to try and entice us into signing up for the Marine Corps instead of the Air Force. His argument was that the Marine Corps was only three years, and basic is tough in whatever branch you chose. He had his best dress blues on with a chest full of medals that he said would get us more girls than our Air Force bus drivers' uniforms, and on top of that he would guarantee basic training at Camp Pendleton, Calif. That was pretty enticing to 18, 19 and 20 year old kids. Out of about 80 Air Force recruits, he did manage to change the minds of six individuals. I came very close to changing my own mind, but at the last second I decided to stay with the Air Force.

We were then herded out to the Milwaukee Airport for what was my first flight on a airplane, headed to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Basic started out pretty routine with all the the shouting and running every where we went. Then it went downhill for about three weeks until an assistant training instructor was replaced. Basic can be tough no matter what branch, but the Air Force corrected this matter and we went on to become one of the Honor Squadrons upon graduation. We were one of the first squadrons trained on the M-16s in the AF.

Looking back, some of the best years of my life were in the USAF.

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